Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Upgraded by Robert W. Baird to “Outperform”

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) was upgraded by stock analysts at Robert W. Baird from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report released on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $150.00 price target on the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock, up from their previous price target of $115.00. Robert W. Baird’s price target points to a potential upside of 30.78% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on MU. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Micron Technology from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com raised Micron Technology from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Argus raised Micron Technology from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $140.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Micron Technology from $103.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Micron Technology from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and twenty-five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.60.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

Shares of MU opened at $114.70 on Monday. Micron Technology has a 12 month low of $59.55 and a 12 month high of $130.54. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $108.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $89.96. The company has a current ratio of 3.74, a quick ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market cap of $126.63 billion, a PE ratio of -33.25 and a beta of 1.27.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by $0.69. Micron Technology had a negative return on equity of 8.98% and a negative net margin of 20.57%. The company had revenue of $5.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($2.03) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 57.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Micron Technology will post 0.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Micron Technology

In related news, EVP Scott J. Deboer sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.31, for a total value of $4,412,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 158,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,497,041.27. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Scott J. Deboer sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.31, for a total value of $4,412,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 158,617 shares in the company, valued at $17,497,041.27. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sanjay Mehrotra sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total value of $593,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 788,557 shares in the company, valued at $66,901,175.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 323,890 shares of company stock worth $36,079,267 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Micron Technology by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 94,984,775 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $8,106,001,000 after acquiring an additional 755,588 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC increased its holdings in Micron Technology by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 22,583,348 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,927,263,000 after buying an additional 503,923 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Micron Technology by 47.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,899,184 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,489,801,000 after buying an additional 7,089,790 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Micron Technology by 43.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,383,628 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,182,608,000 after buying an additional 5,257,201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Micron Technology by 19.7% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 17,303,400 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,177,151,000 after buying an additional 2,852,688 shares during the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Micron Technology

Micron Technology, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, and sells memory and storage products worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Compute and Networking Business Unit, Mobile Business Unit, Embedded Business Unit, and Storage Business Unit. It provides memory and storage technologies comprising dynamic random access memory semiconductor devices with low latency that provide high-speed data retrieval; non-volatile and re-writeable semiconductor storage devices; and non-volatile re-writable semiconductor memory devices that provide fast read speeds under the Micron and Crucial brands, as well as through private labels.